Peruvian citrus exports have registered a notable increase in 2020. The country had exported a total of 225,767 tons of citrus by week 34 (August 23), i.e. 38% more than by the same week of 2019, according to the general manager of the Association of Citrus Producers of Peru (Procitrus), Sergio del Castillo Valderrama.
In this period, mandarins increased by 44%; oranges increased by 47%; tangelo decreased by 1%; Sutil lemon grew by 20%, and the Tahiti lime and grapefruit grew by 26%.
Sergio del Castillo said that they expected to export more than 250,000 tons of citrus fruits this year because the country would continue to export mandarins for a few more weeks, and orange, lemon, and grapefruit peak in September and October.
“We'll have to wait until the end of the year to know the final figures; however, mandarin exports have already shown us a trend: to date, they have increased by 30% when to compared to all of last year. It is an important year, we've seen growth that we hadn't seen since 2017; that year the citrus category grew by 30% and we'll possibly exceed that result this year,” he commented.
Destination markets
“On balance, all destinations have received more fruit, since the export volume has grown by almost 40% and we have distributed it proportionally; but the three markets that have absorbed the most this increase are the United States, which went from 35% to 44%, followed by Canada, which rose from 7% to 7.5%, and Russia, which grew from 3.7% to 4%," he said.
China continues to have a 6.5% percentage share of the market; Europe fell from 18% to 13%, the United Kingdom has gone from 19% to 17%, and other countries located in Central America have fallen from 11% to 8.5%.
Internal market
According to Sergio del Castillo, the domestic market has been affected by a greater amount of fruit. "Exports have grown by 40%, but the volume sent to the local market also increased. Since there were more products, the price of the fruit that wasn't exported decreased."
“All in all, the export-oriented citrus grower has had a good season, with higher volumes of citrus that have been absorbed by the destination places. The United States has been the great catalyst, as they have demanded nearly 100,000 tons of citrus fruits from Peru,” the general manager of Procitrus concluded.